Australia‘s players can’t hide their admiration for Lionel Messi as they prepare to take on Argentina in the round of 16, but they believe they have what it takes to stun the South American heavyweights.
Australia upset Denmark 1-0 on Wednesday evening to punch their tickets to the knockout stages of the World Cup, joining Group D winners France in the last 16 for the first time since 2006.
Their reward for this, however, is one of the most daunting tasks in football right now: a date with an in-form Argentina at the Ahmad bin Ali Stadium on Saturday evening.
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Propelled by a masterful performance from their talisman, La Albiceleste handily accounted for Poland in their final group game on Wednesday.
Messi may have had a penalty saved and didn’t play a direct hand in either of his side’s goals at Stadium 974, but he was otherwise sublime, breaking a record previously held by Diego Maradona as the oldest player to create 5-plus chances and complete 5-plus dribbles in a World Cup match. He also surpassed Maradona for most games played at a World Cup with 22.
“I always loved Messi and I think he’s the greatest to ever play the game,” defender Milos Degenek said. “[But] it’s not an honour to play against him because he’s just a human, as we all are.
“It’s an honour to be in the round of 16 of a World Cup. That’s the honour in itself. Whether we played Argentina or we would have played against Poland, it still would have been an honour to represent Australia in the round of 16 of a World Cup.”
Mat Leckie, whose goal saw the Socceroos past the Danes, became the first Victorian to ever score at a World Cup on Wednesday and ensured that he, alongside Maty Ryan, will break Australia’s all time appearance record at men’s World Cups against the Argentines.
And with so few neutrals predicting anything less than an Argentine procession, he contends that his side have little to lose.
“It’s a 90-minute game, maybe 120. And it’s a knockout game,” Leckie said. ‘Because no one expects us to be here, we [can] throw everything at them and there’s no pressure for us.
